Mauviel iron handles quality control question

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Mauviel iron handles quality control question

I got a beautiful Mauviel copper saute pan from my girlfriend for Christmas, the 3.2 quart "professional" series of SS lined copper, 2.5 mm thick, with cast iron handles. While I haven't used the pan yet, I did inspect it carefully after cleaning it by hand and I noticed that the handle has numerous small patches of discoloured areas.

While the bulk of the handle is a mottled gray colour that is smooth and not-that-cold to the touch (suggesting an epoxy or clear-coating on the iron), there are spots on the handle that have a rough texture and are a dark brown colour. There are numerous small spots like this on the handle proper, but the biggest spots are on the base of the handle where it is bolted to the pan. The largest spot is 1 cm by 0.5 cm.

Naturally, my concern is that these are spots of rust showing in a brand new and unused pan. I have never read any concerns previously about the cast-iron handled copper pans being susceptible to rust or that they require any special treatment.

Does it sound to anyone else like this is something concerning? Should I ask the original vendor to exchange it, or is this a normal patina to be found on the Mauviel products? I sent the vendor an e-mail asking their opinion and today I went to another local store that sells the same products and did not find this pattern on any other pans. My vendor, however, has not written back due to the holiday in Canada yesterday and now the weekend. Any advice would be fantastic, thanks!